AMSTERDAM, April 20. THE last two days of the Dutch Nationals in Amsterdam showed some great races, but the Olympic team didn’t grow that much. No personal starts were earned; only some of the relays for Athens were completed.

The women’s 4×100 freestyle will be a great team, with Inge de Bruijn and Marleen Veldhuis as leaders. Chantal Groot is the third swimmer, with her 55,23 from Barcelona. Many other women competed for the last spot in the team, and for the reserves. Inge Dekker’s 56,05 was a great personal best time, but Annabel Kosten managed to clock 56,04 during the prelims to make her the fourth woman on the team.

Wilma van Rijn just out-touched Manon van Rooijen in the final, 56,60 to 56,75, but both members of the silver medal-winning 4×100 freestyle relay from Sydney are not likely to swim in Athens. The Dutch Swim Association hasn’t announced the final team for Athens yet. The reserves for the relay’s will be announced after the European Championships next month.

The 4×200 freestyle relay is also a strong team. Six women are ready to compete in this relay, led by US Open Champion Marleen Veldhuis. But it wasn’t Veldhuis who won this race in Amsterdam. It was Haike van Stralen who touched the pad first in 2:02,21. Veldhuis followed closely, just out-touching teammate Chantal Groot, 2:02,32 to 2:02,36. Inge Dekker finished fourth in 2:03,01, but Celina Lemmen (a freshman at SMU) already clocked 2:02,37 to make the team. Again Manon van Rooijen is not certain of making the team with her 2:03,06.

The men’s freestyle races were less successful than the women's. Thomas Felten became champion on the 200 freestyle in 1:50,97, but number two Martijn Zuijdweg who has swum 1:49 several times, wasn’t able to swim faster than 1:52,25. The bronze medal from Sydney at this relay won’t be defended in Athens, since no team can be made with swimmers incapable of making the final.

In Sydney, The Netherlands had a great 4x100m freestyle team, but the team was DQ’d because of a false start during the heats. This Olympic year, everything should go better, but getting a team together has been very difficult. Van den Hoogenband is one of the team members, together with his teammate, former backstroker Klaas Erik Zwering. In the heats of the Amsterdam Swim Cup, Mark Veens clocked 50,21 for his seasonal best, but there need to be at least four men who can swim 49 or better to make finals in Athens.

Johan Kenkhuis completed the team finishing first this weekend in 50,41 (prelims 50,36). Kenkhuis holds one of the fastest relay splits of all time, 47,89 swum in Fukuoka. If he can repeat that time, the team might have a shot at the Olympic final. Veens clocked 50,67 to finish second here. His personal best of 49,38 was set during the Olympics, but after a lot of injuries, he’s back to break that time this summer. Mitja Zastrow is still having troubles with injuries; his 50,69 was good enough for third, but did not earn a ticket for Athens yet.

The following swimmers have been selected for Athens, others might be added to his list after the European Championships.